[GiRTh]

Bernard will be boxing on the outside. Do you think Joe has the intelligence to get to him?

[Dan_]

Originally posted by GiRTh
Bernard will be boxing on the outside. Do you think Joe has the intelligence to get to him?

I think he's got the stamina to close him down and the speed to get through Bernard's defence.

[GiRTh]

I see Kelly Pavlik has beaten Jermain Taylor again. Thats quite a scalp. What do you think he'll do next?

Boxing News

[Dan_]

Originally posted by GiRTh
I see Kelly Pavlik has beaten Jermain Taylor again. Thats quite a scalp. What do you think he'll do next?

Boxing News

I saw the fight on Setanta, was a really good fight but Pavlik was just the more aggressive of the two and that got him the victory.Pavlik's likely to defend his middleweight title in the summer, possibly against Winky Wright or John Duddy.I think he's going to rule the middleweight division for a while yet and he's certainly becoming one of the top pound-4-pound fighters in the world.

It'll be interesting to see where Taylor goes from here.Most seem to be talking about him moving up to super middleweight.There's certainly a lot of options for him up at that weight.

Carl Froch's fight against Dennis Inkin in March is going to be live on ITV1.

Amir Khan is going to be back in action in April.He's fighting the Dane,Martin Kristjansen.He was scheduled to fight him last time but Kristjansen pulled out.A contract clause stated the fight would go ahead at later date if either fighter had to pull out.It's not a particularly challenging fight in my view but Kristjansen is ranked highly by the WBO.

[Dan_]

I cannot wait for this weekends boxing action.It's funny how there always seems to be several big fights on just the one night but weeks where there's nothing of interest.

There's a decent fight on Friday night for the European Super Bantamweight title between the Spaniard Kiko Martinez and Britain's Rendall Munroe.I hope Rendall can cause the upset.

There's a cracking event in Mexico this Saturday.Former Heavyweight champion John Ruiz takes on perennial challenger Jameel McCline.This is really a last chance for both guys to get a title shot.Jose Luis Castillo takes on the undefeated American Timothy Bradley, winner could go on to face Junior Witter.Then you've got Oleg Maskaev vs Samuel Peter, this is the first world heavyweight title fight to be staged in Mexico.Maskaev might have had a year out and is approaching 40 but he's still a capable guy but I feel that Peter will probably have too much for him.Finally there's the excellent lighweight champion Juan Diaz defending his title against top American Nate Campbell.

Then we have the huge one, the biggest fight between two Brits in years.Enzo Maccarinelli vs David Haye for 3 world cruiserweight titles.Two of the hardest hitters in the world, this one guarantees fireworks.On the undercard there's a couple of good fights.Paul Smith of the contender takes on Cello Renda which should be a decent test.Finally there's the fight for the British Super Featherweight title between Carl Johanneson and Kevin Mitchell.Johanneson's the current title holder but seems to fall apart when he steps up in class and Mitchell's as yet untested at this level.

[GiRTh]

Who do you think will win out of Hayes and Maccarinelli?

[GiRTh]

Who do you think will win out of Hayes and Maccarinelli?

[Dan_]

Originally posted by GiRTh
Who do you think will win out of Hayes and Maccarinelli?

I think it's far too close to call, that's the beauty of this fight.I'll only say that early on if they get into an all out war then Haye's probably the hardest hitter of the two, it might well just be a case of who lands the cleanest bomb first though.

If the fight goes on in the later rounds then I'd probably favour Enzo as Haye's stamina is still very questionable whereas Enzo has proven several times, he can go the distance without too much trouble.Enzo might just try and keep things tight and look to wear Haye down with body shots and take him out late on.

It's got all the makings of a classic though.How often do you get a fight between two Brits who are the top guys in their division? It's like the old days of Benn vs Eubank.

I wish Ricky Hatton would stop pissing about and fight Junior Witter so we can have another one of these all British super fights.

[GiRTh]

It sounds like it could be a classic.

[Tom]

Bookies have Haye as odds on to win, and by a long shot but I'm in agreement with Dan that Maccarinelli's stamina is far better and Haye's stamina goes pretty quickly.

I hope it turns out to be a classic and its not anticlimactic. Its been a while since theres been a really good fight which just sticks in your mind for ages.

I'm not sure if its already been reported in this thread but ITV1 have reportedly lost the rights to their games and from September the matches ITV previously had the rights to will go out on Setanta.

[Dan_]

Originally posted by Tom_
Bookies have Haye as odds on to win, and by a long shot but I'm in agreement with Dan that Maccarinelli's stamina is far better and Haye's stamina goes pretty quickly.

I hope it turns out to be a classic and its not anticlimactic. Its been a while since theres been a really good fight which just sticks in your mind for ages.

I'm not sure if its already been reported in this thread but ITV1 have reportedly lost the rights to their games and from September the matches ITV previously had the rights to will go out on Setanta.

I really cannot see it being anything but exciting.Hopefully it is a classic with a couple knock-downs and a dramatic finish.

I think there was some fallout between Frank Warren and ITV and only the events where Amir Khan was fighting on were contracted to be shown but as you say that deal was ending this September.All of the other Frank Warren events have been on Setanta since Autumn last year due to the fallout.

I believe a new programme controller has just recently took over and he's known as someone not in favour of boxing so I don't expect too much boxing on ITV in future despite the very good ratings.The guy he took over wasn't a huge boxing fan either but he did agree to a deal to show Carl Froch's next fight live on ITV, he's not promoted by Frank Warren.

It pretty much looks like Setanta is taking over with boxing coverage, they seem to get the majority of top fights from around the world.

[Dan_]

Well the Haye-Maccarinelli fight was a bit of a let down in that it ended so soon.Enzo looked far too nervous and he just didn't stick to the things he does well, when you let your guard down against someone like Haye you will pay for it.Haye was simply too fast and too strong on the night.I look forward to his assault on the heavyweight division now, he's certainly going to bring excitement.

Speaking of the heavyweights, John Ruiz got a boring decision win over McCline and Samuel Peter took out Oleg Maskaev in 6 rounds.I'd fancy Haye to beat any of those guys.

Castillo vs Bradley didn't go ahead due to Castillo not making the weight, he wouldn't be strong enough at 147 and seeing as he cannot make 140 he ought to retire.

I was hugely surprised at Juan Diaz losing to Nate Campbell.I've not seen the fight yet but I thought Diaz would be far too quick for Campbell and that Campbell only had a punchers chance.

Paul Smith looked fairly average against Cello Renda.Smith was too laid back to start with and got tagged far too much,he was behind on points but Buddy McGirt gave him a kick up the backside and he put the pressure on and forced the stoppage.He needs to put his foot on the gas for quicker in future.

Kevin Mitchell vs Carl Johannson was the best fight of the night for me.Mitchell started off so brightly and won the first 3 rounds with ease.Johannson started to come back into it from round 4 and really took over from that point, he almost had Mitchell down in round 6 but Mitchell did well to come back.By the 9th it looked like Johannson had just taken too many punches and Mitchell decked him with a beautiful left hook.Johannson managed to beat the count but was duly finished just seconds later.If Mitchell can avoid getting into scraps and use his excellent boxing ability then he can go far.

[Tom]

Hmm. I never seen it but I've Sky+ed it. Not sure if I'm going to bother with it after that.

[Dan_]

Really brave effort from Gavin Rees tonight but he just got outclassed in the end, glad the ref stopped it when he did.I really enjoyed the fight though.

I felt Gavin was just fighting on instinct going into the last few rounds.His defence was utterly terrible though, time after time he just went in for an attack and moved back with his chin up in the air, far too easy for Kotelnik.Why he didn't learn to keep his glove up when he was continually getting hit with the same punch was beyond me.

He's in over his head at world title level.Let's face it, M'Baye was so lacklustre when he fought him.He needs to go for the British or European title once he's dusted himself down after this defeat, hopefully it wont have a lasting effect on him.

If Witter cannot get Hatton anytime soon, then I'd be quite happy to see him face Kotelnik again.It would be a good chance of another title for Witter and I'm sure Kotelnick would be willing to fight him again.

[Tom]

Not watched any matches in a while but thats a problem with quite a few boxers today. They think its all about attacking when its not.

Out of interest, are you a boxer Dan?

[Dan_]

Originally posted by Tom_
Not watched any matches in a while but thats a problem with quite a few boxers today. They think its all about attacking when its not.

Out of interest, are you a boxer Dan?

I get so frustrated watching guys that have a total disregard for defence, you're spot-on about it not being all about attacking.

I don't box myself Tom.I keep thinking about taking it up but never pluck up the courage to do it.

[Tom]

Originally posted by Dan_

I get so frustrated watching guys that have a total disregard for defence, you're spot-on about it not being all about attacking.

I don't box myself Tom.I keep thinking about taking it up but never pluck up the courage to do it.

You really should think seriously about taking it up, even if its only doing training with a massive punch bag rather than matches because you don't have the courage to go against someone else its still a really good sport to do. Its good for stress as well

I used to do it at a semi-pro level and the amount of lads there who didn't find a balance between defence and attacking was quite shocking and worrying considering it was semi-pro.

[Dan_]

Originally posted by Tom_

You really should think seriously about taking it up, even if its only doing training with a massive punch bag rather than matches because you don't have the courage to go against someone else its still a really good sport to do. Its good for stress as well

I used to do it at a semi-pro level and the amount of lads there who didn't find a balance between defence and attacking was quite shocking and worrying considering it was semi-pro.

I have done a little bit of bag work before and plan on getting a punch bag at home, more than anything just as a way of getting rid of stress lol.I did a tiny bit of sparring with my dad, just a bit of fun more than anything and he had trouble landing a punch on me lol.They were more like little slaps though.

I suppose the thing that's stopped me going to an actual boxing club is nobody I know is into boxing and have no idea what the boxing clubs are like in my area.I might just give it a go one day.

Even in the pro's you see some shocking fighters, they must not have ever been trained right or they're just stupid.Are you still fighting semi-pro?

[Tom]

Nah not anymore. I kind of started to slow down going then I just suddenly stopped for no apparent reason. Saying that, I never wanted anything serious or a career from it, but it could have been a possibility because I was getting offers to go abroad etc but there were people who wanted it so much more than I did and put in all the hours they could so were just generally more deserving.

[Dan_]

Did you have many fights?

I suppose unless you're really going to put the dedication in it's better to not stick with it.

Have you heard about that Charlie Zelenoff kid?

[Tom]

Actually proper tournament fights I did about 7 or 8 at about 3 or 4 different tournaments. Third was my lowest rank, first being my best.

For other fights, in all I must have had about 30-40 overall, all just being friendly/training and not counting for anything, so I have done a good few.

Charlie- I've heard of him but I'm not really 'aware' of him if that makes sense. No idea if he's any good but hes been hyped up. I'm looking forward to his first match.

[Dan_]

Quite a decent amount of fights then and a good record of only third being your lowest rank.

I think there's a fair few people like you, who've just heard of Charlie.He's got his name out there and talked a whole load of trash but it'll be interesting to see if he can back up his words.I've seen a fair few of his videos and to me he's a bit of a joke.

Take this ridiculous video for example:

Youtube video

[Tom]

He is not good. He's too launched into his attack, he leans far too forward, his swings are too wide and should be nothing like that, he rotates his body too much and he's missed a few unmissable swipes. He won't go far.

[Dan_]

If he waited that long loading up hooks he would miss all the time and end up getting taken out.

The sad thing is that I think he will win his pro-debut as the guy he's facing is perhaps even worse than he is and throws even wilder hooks than that, plus he's got a glass jaw.As shown by his 13 ko losses from the 14 fights he has had.

Here's Charlie's latest video.

Youtube video

[GiRTh]

Dan_, you should take up boxing simply for the exercise. I used to box when I was your age and then took ip up again about 6 years ago. After about 2 months I felt fitter than I ever have in my life. Even if you dont know anyone if you go to a good boxing gym they should make you feel welcome.